Eggzackly, chicklets

Whew....it has been a whirlwind time, my threes and fives....when my flight landed after the trip to Germany (where, btw, I could not get through my company firewalls to use my computer to blog), Mr. Lulu had gone to pick up cutest grandson ever to visit for springbreak Camp Papalu and he is still here!

Loving it, but I forget what it is like to have a little poppet attached to my side 24/7. I have been Marian to his Indiana Jones, the kisses to his bumps, the Mace Windu to his General Grievous, the buyer of toys, the griller of cheese sandwiches, and cuddler supreme and I'm loving it....but Papa just whisked him off to the park for a lulubreak so I thought I would leave a Happy Easter / Happy Spring / Happy NCAA tournament time wish to you all!

Lots of new things to blog about coming up, including information about Misericordia Heart of Mercy in Chicago, which is the new residence of a family member so I'll be contributing funds from my etsy store.....

Yikes - the door just blew open and I heard a call for Lulu....see you soon!

The Appliances are Fighting Back

The refrigerator refuses to fridge OR re-fridge and the freezer refuses to freeze. (Why does the REfridgerator have to re-. Why isn't it just the frigerator? Isn't the food cool to begin with, giving it a chance to spoil and poison me, and that's why you have to put it into the fridge? Why does the right side have to keep REdoing what it does, while the left side just does it once and maintains?)

Either way, the friggin' box isn't cooling or freezing. For a while there, it was a bit schizo, with the freezer thawing and the fridge freezing. But now, it's just decided to crap out altogether.

And do you think that we can find the stupid receipt for the extended warranty? Of course not. The ONE TIME that we do purchase the extended warranty, we cannot find it.

I have grocery receipts for 2001. I have tax records going back 10 years, 3 years over the recommended saving limit, I have 20-year-old counted cross-stitch patterns, I have my husband's old high school yearbooks AND his shotglass from his college fraternity (I Felta Thigh, I think it was called). I have my third-grade report card, my daughter's third-grade Mother's Day macaroni necklace, 12 separate sets of mortgage refinancing documents, notes from high school BFFs, copies of checks going back to 1994, my size 2 pants from the 30 seconds that I fit into them back in 2002.

I have receipts for 5 separate toasters, none of which I still have. I might even still have the top from my wedding cake, 24 years later. In fact, with the amount of stuff I have saved, I almost qualify for my own TLC show on hoarding.

But no warranty receipt for the now-non-refrigerator.

Mr. Lulu is downstairs, alternately swearing at the phone where he's been on hold and ignore for the last 15 minutes with a major U.S. appliance company whose big shiny box is currently NOT bringing any good things to life in our kitchen except for the giant ants behind it (yup, we're having a late summer insect infestion as the topper to our day) and trying to vacuum behind the nonrefrigerator.

Me? I ran upstairs to blog about it, of course.

My Mom Is Getting Shorter

So I picked Mom up on Friday for a week of Grandma Summer Camp here in NC.  And she's getting shorter, as if she wasn't already qualified to be the grandma on a TLC show.

Also, I have a new Travel Rule based on the six flights in three days that I completed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

So much to post - pay attention!

First - Mom.  She'll be here allllllllll week.  Yep.  I get to spend 9 days with her, all 4'9" of her spunky, over 85-yr-old self (she won't let me publish her age :)).   Lots of stories to come, most of which I've heard.  And heard, and heard and did I tell you that already, Honey?

*CAVEAT to the Karma peeps:  I love my mom, I'm very extremely lucky that I still have her, and that she is in pretty good shape both physically and mentally - lives alone! - and really happy to have the opportunity for GSC.  So whatever I post about any 'fun' or 'issues' or 'humor' this week - just remember that, ok?  Don't send me posts trying to make me feel guilty that I intend to mine some humor here, right people?

Thanks.  Just in case you forget - I'll post a little acronym at times - ILMMIKS86GOMB.  ( I love my mom I know she's 86 get off my back).  Right.  Ok.  Back to the movie.

Anyway - she started out life at about 5'2" and I think she's down to about 4'9."  I have to go measure.   But she's napping on the couch, after we had a slight tiff about her nutritional habits.  Yes, I'm arguing with her about her eating - she only wants the "smallest, teeniest, little half-bowl of soup for lunch.  With a few crackers.  That's all, honey - I'm so full from breakfast."

Actually, she did have breakfast.  And a handful of crackers.  And some chocolate.  And a few cookies.  And some hummus.  And some more crackers.  And some pretzels stuffed with cheese product.  And another half cookie.  And one grape (because I bugged her to have fruit).

Washed down with some iced tea.

All of which raised her blood sugar quickly, and then caused her to fall asleep on the couch.  After which, she'll wake up, and we'll start the argument around dinner - because she'll only want the smallest, teeniest bite of meat, and two spoonfuls of maybe some applesauce.

But then she and Mr. Lulu will be snackin' away on the couch after dinner........

Why?  Why?  Other people have moms who start an entirely new business at age 75 and leave their kids a gozillion bucks.  Mine - is channeling a skinny teenager who thinks she's too fat but will eat junk food.  Didn't I already go through this with two daughters???  What's next - diet pills??  If she eats any less or loses any more weight this week, I'll be able to cash in that return plane ticket and have her sit on my lap.

Hmmm.....Mom, did I mention that those grapes have extra fat in them??

ILMMIKS86GOMB.

Deep breath in, hold it hold it.......annnnnnnd....let it out.  Wooooosaaaaaa.

So - a new travel rule.  Change of topic.

Again - the theme is Be Curious....

Mr. Traveler?  When you use the back of the airplane seat to leverage yourself in and out of your seat and then you lean on it sooo heavily, and let it go, be curious about the type of x-rays that will be needed to diagnose whiplash for the person sitting in that seat as their head boings around.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying......

Flirty Girls

Yup...time to plug the store a bit.  Mr. Lulu is threatening to blockade the crafty wagon train when it makes another delivery.  ( I still contend that the additional buttons last week were a NEED and not a WANT, but ok, yeah, the mortgage and insurance and payments and whatnot are important too, I suppose.)

So I need to sell a few of these little beauties once in a while to feed the crafty pig.

That's the piggy bank, right?  Not talking about Mr. Lulu. ;) 

Check me out in the etsy store - yup, over there, on the right.  Tell your friends and family!  Send them my way!  Always a family discount for my decksters and bloglackers.

I've just posted a slew of button art cards.  They are the size of a playing card, with paints, inks and pieces of sewing patterns.  There are vintage '60's images on the front of each card, along with buttons that are hand-sewn.  The back has fabric and more flirty, fashiony images.  

So yeah.  Please stop by.  Thank you for your patronage.

I'm so tired of the 'Should do / Must do' List

Mr. Lulu is on a boy's trip this weekend, so I have three free days to get Lulu-stuff done - OTT!

Here are the things that I should  this weekend:

• ...Have gotten up earlier (why??)
  
• Sweep /Clean / Dust / Vacuum the house (didn't I just do that about two weeks ago????)
  
• Wash the windows so I can see through them (can't I pay someone to get up on that 84-ft ladder and fight the 90 degree heat to do that???)
  
• Clean out three year's worth of magazines (what if I find out that I desperately need that healthy recipe from ummm you know where - that one magazine? - you know the one.)
  
• Clean out the refrigerator (Ok, I did do that - stinky is stinky)
  
• Purchase new cubbies / base for office/studio on sale (with money saved, make extra mortgage payment)
  
• Clean out office /studio, reorganize all craft / art supplies
  
• Put on sunscreen and stay out of the sun (Duh)
  
• Skip the alcohol and cut out the salt (Again, why?)
  

This is what's happening instead - 

• Got up at 8:30 am
  
• Swept the room with a stern look, willing the dust away
  
• Opened the windows to get a clear view
  
• Restacked the magazines very neatly
  
• Put cubbies and base together - solo, with tools and everything - with money saved, bought some cute tops for MyfriendTeri and Lulu trip (like $37.59 will get me that much closer to owning the house, Ms. Sooozie Orman??)
  
• Cleaned the fridge
  
• Putting on sunscreen and a hat, taking some chips and salsa and a vodka tonic to sit in the sun and read new magazines off the top of the clean stack.
  
• Creating new mess in studio, to add to disorganization

It's all good in the Luluhood.